When She Smiles, You'll Love Her
by TheCivilState
Summary: Elena meets Rose's cousin Violet.


"Elena, right?" The doppleganger in question jumped, dropping her water glass and watching it shatter on the kitchen floor. Standing just outside the doorway leading out to the back porch stood a fair skinned woman with her arms tucked close to her sides. Briefly, Elena recalled those arms being elbow deep in blood.

"Sorry," the vampire said, gesturing to the mess, "I'd offer to help clean up, but I don't think it'd be wise to invite me in."

"But Elijah said-"

"Elijah says a lot of things and while he's a decent individual, we've never been close, so I don't think he's the best judge of character when it comes to me." Elena stepped around the shattered glass, watching Violet warily, despite the fact the centuries old vampire could not enter the house without an invitation.

"Who would be the best judge of character then?" Violet considered that for a moment, ticking off people on her fingers as she listed them.

"Kol, Klaus," she paused, "Probably Finn." Elena cocked her head to the side and stared at her.

"Not Rose?" Violet ducked her head, brow twitching as she shook her head. "But Elijah said-"

"Again, Elijah says a lot of things. Still doesn't mean he knows me." Elena, not wanting this conversation to end, grabbed one of the chairs around the dinner table and pulled it as close to the door as she dared. Violet, catching her not so subtle cue, settled down on the deck and rested her back against the doorjamb.

"Rose didn't have a daylight ring," Elena observed, noticing the woven metal band around Violet's ring finger on her left hand. The vampire smiled at it fondly and held her hand up so Elena could catch a closer look.

"A gift from Kol," she said, "If you can believe it. At least the ring was. Rebekah was the one who found the witch to spell it."

"Rebekah?" Elena said in disbelief and Violet shrugged.

"Her and Rose were close. I was Rose's cousin, so…"

"Then why didn't Rose have a daylight ring?"

"She gave it to Trevor." Oh. Elena wanted to swallow her tongue, scoot away from the door, and take back everything she'd said to Violet. She wanted a rewind button so she could avoid awkward moments like this where she opened her mouth wide enough to insert her foot.

"You can stop fidgeting," Violet said, "If I minded talking about Rose, I wouldn't be answering your questions."

"Do you know how she died?" Violet tilted her head upwards so she could make eye contact with Elena, who looked very unsure of herself. When the vampire didn't respond, Elena took the initiative and told her.

"Werewolf bite," she said, "She saved a friend of mine and when the blood cravings set in, he, um…"

"Staked her," Violet supplied and Elena nodded. She watched her pale eyes slip shut and when they opened, they were glimmering in the sunlight. Violet angled her face towards the rays of light and allowed them to warm her skin. She sent up a silent prayer the way she once sent up wishes to the sky. _Fly, fly away._

"I'm sorry," Elena said, "Had I know she had family."

"It's better it ended that way. Rose and I were never very close."

"But you were family." Violet laughed and in that moment, with the sun shining on her upturned face and a smile on her face, Elena was struck with how human she seemed.

"You sound like Klaus," she said, "But I am not like him. I did not appreciate what I had when I had it."

"Elijah said you were alone a lot. That people who understood you didn't stick around." Violet leaned forward and crossed her legs, propping her elbows on her knees. Her dark hair fell over her shoulder and Elena wanted to reach out and brush it away from her face. But she stayed on her side of the invisible barrier keeping Violet out.

"Such a life was expected," Violet said, "I was turned at a young age and rebelled against the only person willing to help me- Rose. Perhaps being alone is Fate's way of punishing me for abandoning my family."

"You don't believe that, do you?" Violet turned her gray eyes to Elena and regarded the warm beauty with interest.

"Kol and Klaus were my lovers," she said, "At least until Katerina arrive and charmed Klaus away. I never knew what she looked like until now. Tell me, are you her exact likeness?" Elena nodded, an annoyed expression flitting across her features.

"People always mistake me for her," the young doppleganger admitted and Violet felt a small bit of sympathy for her plight.

"Well, if it is any consolation, I will never mistake you for her." Elena smiled then, a genuine, bright smile that filled her entire face. It was infectious and Violet found herself returning the expression with a smaller smile of her own.

"Are you well?" she asked and Elena had to think about that for a moment before nodding.

"I wish Elijah hadn't left," she confessed and Violet grinned.

"I'll let him know when I report back."

"Report?" The vampire continued to smile.

"He asked me to check on you. I'm not sure this is what he had in mind, but whatever."

Violet rose slowly, tipping her head at Elena who stepped close to the door until she was hovering just beyond the barrier. She gave Violet an easy half-smile, head resting against the doorjamb as the vampire observed her behavior.

"You can come by whenever you want," the Petrova doppleganger said, "I'd like to get to know Rose's cousin. Elijah said you two were very much alike."

"Again," Violet said, "He's not the best judge of character when it comes to me."

"Maybe not," Elena agreed, "But I'd like to get to know you more."

Violet stepped away from the door, face upturned to catch a few more rays of light. Elena watched her smile at the sky and felt herself smiling as well. She couldn't believe the young woman before her was the same who had massacred the vampires who had kidnapped her.

"Why did you rescue me?" The question slipped from her lips before she could catch it. Violet angled her head towards her, all the serenity gone from her features.

"Elijah asked for my help," she said, "Elijah cares for you, you were an innocent who didn't need to die, I wanted to see what the doppleganger looked like. Pick one."

"The truth?"

"The truth?" Violet sighed. "The truth is the vampires Finn compelled wouldn't have hurt me. He would've killed them, even though that's not his style."

"By why? Why would Finn do that?" Violet grinned, a wolfish grin that reminded Elena of the monster who ripped the hearts from the compelled vampires.

"If you got to know the Originals the way you've come to know Elijah," she said, "Or the way you want to get to know me; you may find you don't want to kill them anymore. Could you handle that?"

Violet was gone before Elena could respond, but her question still hung in the air. _Could she handle that?_

**a/n: **I get slightly annoyed that Elijah was the bad guy who Elena got to know, but now she wont even bother getting to know the rest of his family. They're just bad guys. Come on. Go out for lunch or something.

This is why I don't own the show. I do own Violet.

Fave, flame, faint.

oxox


End file.
